Book of Common Prayer
89 1 With many words doth the Prophet praise the goodness of God, 23 For his testament and covenant, that he had made between him and his elect by Jesus Christ the son of David. 38 Then doth he complain of the great ruin, and desolation of the kingdom of David, so that to the outward appearance the promise was broken. 46 Finally, he prayeth to be delivered from his afflictions, making mention of the shortness of man’s life, and confirming himself by God’s promise.
A Psalm to give instruction, of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will [a]sing the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I declare thy truth from generation to generation.
2 For I [b]said, Mercy shall be set up forever: thy truth shalt thou [c]stablish in the very heavens.
3 [d]I have made a covenant with my chosen: I have sworn to David my servant,
4 Thy seed will I stablish forever, and set up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah.
5 O Lord, even the [e]heavens shall praise thy wondrous work: yea, thy truth in the [f]Congregation of the Saints.
6 For who is equal to the Lord in the heaven? and who is like the Lord among the [g]sons of the gods?
7 God is very terrible in the assembly of the [h]Saints, and to be reverenced above all that are about him.
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee, which art a mighty Lord, and thy truth is about thee?
9 [i]Thou rulest the raging of the Sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
10 Thou hast beaten down Rahab as a man slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy mighty arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: thou hast laid the foundation of the world, and all that therein is.
12 Thou hast created the North and the South: [j]Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy Name.
13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 [k]Righteousness and equity are the stablishment of thy throne: mercy and truth go before thy face.
15 Blessed is the people that can [l]rejoice in thee: they shall walk in the light of thy [m]countenance, O Lord.
16 They shall rejoice continually in thy Name, and in thy righteousness shall they exalt themselves.
17 For thou art the [n]glory of their strength, and by thy favor our horns shall be exalted.
18 For our [o]shield appertaineth to the Lord, and our King to the Holy one of Israel.
19 Thou spakest then in a vision unto [p]thine Holy one, and saidest, I have laid help upon one that is [q]mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant: with mine holy oil have I anointed him.
21 Therefore mine hand shall be established with him, and mine arm shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not oppress him, neither shall the wicked hurt him.
23 But I will [r]destroy his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24 My truth also and my [s]mercy shall be with him, and in my Name shall his [t]horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the [u]floods.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my [v]Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my Covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 His seed also will I make to endure [w]forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 But if his children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments:
31 (A)If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments:
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes.
33 [x]Yet my loving kindness will I not take from him, neither will I falsify my truth.
34 My Covenant will I not break, nor [y]alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 I have sworn once by mine holiness, [z]that I will not fail David, saying,
36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne shall be as the sun before me.
37 He shall be established for evermore as the moon, and as a faithful [aa]witness in the heaven. Selah.
38 But thou hast rejected and abhorred, thou hast been angry with thine anointed.
39 Thou hast [ab]broken the Covenant of thy servant, and profaned his [ac]crown, casting it on the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his walls: thou hast laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All that go by the way, spoil him: he is a rebuke unto his neighbors.
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies, and made all his adversaries to rejoice.
43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44 Thou hast caused his dignity to decay, and cast his throne to the ground.
45 The days of his [ad]youth hast thou shortened, and covered him with shame. Selah.
46 [ae]Lord, how long wilt thou hide thyself, forever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember [af]of what time I am: wherefore shouldest thou create in vain all the children of men?
48 What man liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
50 Remember, O Lord, the rebuke of thy servants, which I bear in my [ag]bosom of all the mighty people.
51 For [ah]thine enemies have reproached thee, O Lord, because they have reproached the [ai]footsteps of thine Anointed.
52 Praised be the Lord for evermore. So be it, even so be it.
12 6 Jephthah killeth two and forty thousand Ephraimites, 8 After Jephthah succeedeth Ibzan, 11 Elon, 13 and Abdon.
1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went [a]Northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore wentest thou to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call [b]us to go with thee? we will therefore burn thine house upon thee with fire.
2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon, and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.
3 So when I saw that ye delivered me not, [c]I put my life in mine hands, and went upon the children of Ammon: so the Lord delivered them into mine hands. Wherefore then are ye come upon me now to fight against me?
4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are runagates of Ephraim [d]among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
5 Also the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites, and when the Ephraimites that were escaped, said, Let me pass, then the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay,
6 Then said they unto him, Say now [e]Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not so pronounce: then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites two and forty thousand.
7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years: then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
12 Thus by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders showed among the people (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.
13 And of the other durst no man join himself to them: nevertheless the people [a]magnified them.
14 Also the number of them that believed in the Lord, both of men and women, grew more and more)
15 Insomuch that they brought the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the leastway the shadow of Peter, when he came by, might shadow some of them.
16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, who were all healed.
17 ¶ [b]Then the chief Priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which was the [c]sect of the Sadducees) and were full of indignation,
18 And laid hands on the Apostles, and put them in the common prison.
19 [d]But the Angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
20 [e]Go your way, and stand in the Temple, and speak to the people, all the [f]words of this life.
21 [g]So when they heard it, they entered into the Temple early in the morning, and taught. And the chief Priest came, and they that were with him, and called the Council together, and all the Elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison, to cause them to be brought.
22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned and told it,
23 Saying, Certainly we found the prison shut as sure as was possible, and the keepers standing without, before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.
24 Then when the chief Priest and the captain of the Temple, and the high Priests heard these things, they doubted of them, whereunto this would grow.
25 [h]Then came one and showed them, saying, Behold, the men that ye put in prison, are standing in the Temple, and teach the people.
26 [i]Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence (for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.)
3 1 Christ teacheth Nicodemus the very principles of Christian regeneration. 14 The serpent in the wilderness. 23 John baptizeth, 27 and teacheth his, that he is not Christ.
1 There [a]was now a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a [b]ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a [c]teacher come from God, for no man could do these miracles that thou doest, [d]except God were with him.
3 [e]Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot [f]see the [g]kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus said unto him, How [h]can a man be born which is old? can he enter into his mother’s womb again, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except that a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh, is [i]flesh: and that that is born of the Spirit, is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said to thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it [j]listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every man that is born of the Spirit.
9 [k]Nicodemus answered, and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered, and said unto him, Art thou a teacher of Israel, and knowest not these things?
11 Verily, verily I say unto thee, We speak that we know, and testify that we have seen: but ye receive not our [l]witness.
12 If when I tell you earthly things, ye believe not, how should ye believe, If I shall tell you of heavenly things?
13 For no [m]man [n]ascendeth up to heaven, but he that had descended from heaven, [o]that Son of man which [p]is in heaven.
14 (A)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must that Son of man be lifted up,
15 That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 (B)[q]For God so loveth the world, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth [r]in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 (C)[s]For God sent not his Son into the world, that he should [t]condemn the world, but that the [u]world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth in him, is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of that only begotten Son of God.
19 (D)[v]And this is the [w]condemnation, that that light came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than that light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every man that evil doeth, hateth the light, neither cometh to light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that [x]doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds might be made manifest, that they are wrought [y]according to God.
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